Connecting-rod.



W. G. ZElGLER.

CONNECTING ROD.

Areucmon FILED Auw-1. um.

Patented July 23;"1918 2 SHEETS-SHEET l i//CZ a' z z i CZ wwe/.sou Y y g www,

W. G. ZEI'GLER.

CONNECTING ROD. l

Apfucmon FILED Aue. u. 1911.

Patented July 23, 1918.

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tion of such apitman from a strip of steel WILLIAM G.` ZE1GLER, or cmceeogimnvois.

CONNECTING-Ron.

Y Y specificati@ qf Lettersrat-ent. Patented'July23Q1918.

Application filed August 17, 1917. Serial No. 186,754. Y

To all whom may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM GEORGE ZEIGLER, a citizen of the United States, re

siding at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State ofl Illinois, have invented new and useful Improvements. vin Connecting-Rods, of which the following is a specification.

I This invention relates Vto machine elements, and more especiallyit is a 'connectingsheet metal7 prefer-v rod or pitmanf made of ably vanadium steel. g l

One object of the invention is the producby the simplest possible means so as to save time. Another object is to provide a {inished article .of this character which, while y very light in weight, possesses great strength. A thirdobject is to avoid buckling which so often occurs in devices of this'character aty points adjacent'theeyes. fourth object is to do awayzwith castings and to eliminate machining and final treatment as far as possible. j

With these `and other objects inview, I give the details of my preferred construction of this pitman or connecting rod below, and

the accompanying drawmake reference to ings wherein- Figure 1 is a plan view-of improved bushing in place.

Pitman, oneoil' hole being shown Vand one 1 Fig 2 is a plan view of the blankv fromwhich the pitman is made, the -fullinner lines' outliningV holes and ,openings and the dotted lines indicatingthe linesfon whichV `Athe blank is to be bent orfolded. i

Fig. 3 is a Vperspective detail in section showing the first ste of my method lof Smak- 'Fig'. 4 is adetail showing the secondstep which consists in bending `thefblank at. its

of Fig. 4.

Figs. 7 and 8 are-details'of modifications or 'amplications y The blank 1 shown. in Fig. l2 is substanthe length itis desired the finished article should have. Itis by preferenceeomposed of pressed vanadium steel about 'one-eighth engine',

of an inch in thickness'and nearly two inches in width, and its length is dependent on the use to which the'pitman is vto be applied although I have found this invention to workwell on the connecting rods of auto-V|v mobile engines. According to the's'ize ofthe"V the suggested proportions may beV varied.' The dotted lines `2 and 3 von the blank in Fig. 2` indicate where itis to be vbent at right angles as vseen in'Fig. Sito produce' two side leaves: and 5),fbetweenV which is an- Y upstanding rib Gwhich of that the metal shall be folded on itself along the dotted line 7, VAand as i'the 'leaves are of course necessitates equal width they f old line Twill ofV course'be along the Atransverse center of the strip. Recognizing thev difficulties" which attend bending metalv of angular cross section,` I have made provision for bending only-the leaves of this-istrip and therefore the mate#y rial within. they rib'isi not affected by what follows-it need be neither'stretched nor condensed, andit is notiweakened` or machined yin any way. Having folded the blank on: the line? and At the midlengthl vof :the blank 'it is formed withVv an opening 10V coextensive Vin width with the distance between the lines: and 3, .aslong as mayibe necessary5 accordf -fingto the size of the eye'to be produced (see FigJl) andY having its sides straight but Vits ends cut .with rentrant p0ints,-each .made up of slig'htly'eurved lines 11 andV 12 meeting in an angle A13 atV the transverse center of ltlie'opening.` Past thesides of the'latter -runtlie leaves 4L and 5 as shown-byrefering this pitman, w lich-.consists in'zfoldingv the blank on the longitudinally. dotted'lines.'v step in they formation of'this pitman` con; sists in bendingv the blank at its mid-length ence lnumerals marked thereon. The `next on a transverse line intersecting the opening 10, but the bend vhere given yis a gentle oneV so as to produce an eye 14 as seen in Fig; 4,

and by preference the eye is formedby bend- Ving the metal (which is only the" two leaves) around a'mandrelto give thejeye a truly Fig. 6 is a cross section o n/th'e linen-'6 cylindrical formation. Said mandrel is shown in Fig. l as a' bushing 15,y and the same may be fastened inthe eye by shrink. ing the latter upon itorby anyother'improved means-itrmay even be fastened `retially rectangular and approximately twice movably kso that it may be replaced when it becomes worn, anddetails `need not be given.

n bent it on the lines '2 and 3, 1t now has the'cross section illustrated in Fig. 3.-

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VNew.each' end-of the blank is'for'med an# opening 2O of the same width' but O .f lesa length than the opening 10, its inner end having a rentrant point 23 formed by two curved lines 21 and 22, and its outer end 24: being cut olf straight; and between said outer end and the extremity of the blank the leaves l and 5 are punched to produce holes 25. Another step in the formation of this pitman consists in kbending each endof vthe blank on a transverse line intersecting the opening 20 so as to produce a curve or quadrant 26 as seen in 1F ig. 5, and bending the metal sharply outward on the'line 27 to produce an ear 28 at the extremity of each quadrant. A clip is provided having a semi-cylindrical body of a size equal to both quadrants, and ears 38 at its ends, and bolts or screws 39 are passed through holes in the contacting ears 28-and 38. lf desired, thin washers or shims 34 may be interposed between these ears initially, for removal later whenit is desired to reduce the size of the Such shimmingmay be employed at eyethis end lof the pitman, but Vby preference dispose a bushing 35 within the eye, like the bushing within the other eye of the pitman,Y

and it may be held 'there by tightening up the screws 39 or by employing other means as'suggested above.

The formation of the blank with its openings and'holes will be accomplished at oneV stroke of the die, folding it on the line 7 and bending it on the lines 2 and 3 will next be done, bending the article to produce the quadrants 26 and the eye 14 will folle-w, and this'brings'the leaves 4 and 5 at one end o'fthe blank into contact with those of the other end as seen in Fig. 6. At suitable points throughout the length of the device Yas at 40 these contacting leaves are next connected with each other by electric welding or other means whieh'maybe selected. Probably the clip 36 will be applied last, but the order followed in carrying out the steps of this operation is not important. It is quite possible to provide oil holes 41 through one or both of the eyes and their contained bushings, and if this pitman'is vnot to be used submerged in oil or lubricated by the splash system, oil cups or grease cups may be mounted in these holes. I have f shown the bushing 35 as larger than the bushing 15, and the curved lines 21 and 22 are therefore struck on a greater radius than the lines 11 and 12.

A striking feature of this invention will be foundin the fact that when one end of each opening 20 and both ends of the opening 10 are formed as described, the bending or curving of the leaves 4: and 5 to form the eye lll'and the quadrants 26 automaticallybrings the ends of said'openings into abutting contact with the outer wall of the eye as seen at 21 in Fig. t and the outer wall of each quadrant as seen at 11 in Fig. 5, and the parts may there be welded together when welding is done at the points 40. lVith the shank of the pitman having the sectional shape of a cross shown in Fig. 6, it is now obvious that the leaves are of double thickness; they stand in a horizontal plane through the axes of the eyes and bushings, and they reliably brace the extremities of the eyes or bearings against end thrusts; whereas the upright ribs (also of double thickness) abut the inner sides of the bearings a-t their mid-length and greatly strengthen the structure by additionally resisting end thrusts and by preventing buckling which so often occurs in a flat shank at points next the bearings. In other words, the cross-shaped section of the shank of this pitman not only increases its strength to a greater degree than 'its weight, but also affords a considerable surface of resistance transversely to the axis of each eye in addition to that afforded by the horizontal leaves, and all four arms of the cross are of double thickness. Finally, it will be observed that'no metal of angular cross section has anywhere been bent, as all the bending in producing the eye or the quadrants occurs in the leaves only, and these are flat.

A slight modification or amplification is shown in Fig. 7 where the outer end of the endmost'hole or opening 20 instead of being cut 0E straight as at 24; in Fig. 2. is cut olf on a rentrant line 24: producing a point 23. With this construction when the blank is folded, instead of leaving a space at each side of the quadrant 26 as shown in Fig. 5, 100 the'rentrant line and point closeup against the quadrant as indicated in Fig. 8.

lVhat is claimed is:

1. A connecting rod comprising spaced bearings, and a sheet metal shank connect-v 105 ing them and made up of upper and lower members whereof each consists of two leaves disposed edge to edge and securedito the leaves of the other member, and a rib of double thickness integrally connected with 110 the inner edges of said leaves and projecting .outward from ltheir plane.

2. A connecting rod comprising spaced bearings,and a shank connecting them and made up of upper and lowermembers where- 115 of each consistsof a sheet metal strip folded .at its transverse center to produce a rib of the rib and extending past allopenings, the leaves being bentrinto aeomplete bearing opposite the central opening and bent into a half bearing opposite the other opening the ends of the ribs, abutting saidbearings.

4f. A connecting rod composed of a strip of sheet metal having openings at its center and near its ends, both ends of the central Y opening and the inner ends of the other openings being formed with rentrant points whereof each is made up of two curved lines, said strip being folded along its transverse center into a longitudinal rib leaving flat tending past all openings, the leaves oppo-J site the central opening being bent into an eye and Yopposite the other openings into"` Vquadrants and the ends vrof the ribs constituted by said curved lines abutting the Walls of the quadrants and eye, means for holding the leaves in Contact With eachother,

and a complementary clip attachedto said Y quadrants and With'. them making ond eye.

' In testimony whereof I aix my signature; VVVlLLIAM G. ZEIGLER.

up a seemivv Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

1 Washington, D. 0. Y 

